Grace TAN (b. 1979; Malaysia) Grace Tan began her inter-disciplinary practice in 2003 under the kwodrent series to explore wearable fabric structures based on the study of rectangles and construction methods. Her interest in material and construction and their respective histories, led her wearable works to evolve into sculptural objects and large-scale, site-specific installations. Geometry is another key influence, and her works are distinguished by tactile nuances that accentuate matter and form.  

In 2015, GROUND, her collaborative entry with FARM Architects, was selected for National Gallery Singapore’s art connector project in conjunction with Singapore’s 50th anniversary of its independence. Tan has since been awarded numerous public commissions in Singapore, notably: Woven Field (2015) at the Little India MRT station; SYMMETRY (2017) at DUO; PLANES and CURRENTS (2017) at Marine One office lobbies; n. 333 - State of Equilibrium (2018) at Raffles City; Interplay (2023) at 71 Robinson Road; Sea of Flags (2023) and The fruit of deceit (2024), Singapore Art Museum; Mater(2024), a commemorative sculpture at the Yale-NUS campus.

Tan has had an extensive history of solo exhibitions: A CUBE IS A CUBE IS A CUBE (2025) at FOST Gallery; Dimensions at Jendela Gallery, The Esplanade (2023); n. 355 – natural progression, commissioned by the Asian Civilisations Museum as a contemporary response to Raffles in Southeast Asia exhibition (2019); A Common Thread: Archiving a Practice at FOST Gallery (2018); Materials and Methods at POLA Museum Annex Tokyo (2018); the truth of matter at FOST Gallery (2015) and kwodrent: working process at FOST Gallery (2008). She has been invited to present her works in group exhibitions, they include: Discrete Encoding and IN RANDOM ORDER at FOST Gallery (both in 2019); Shapes in Symmetry at Nanyang Technological University ADM Gallery (2018); The Measure of Your Dwelling: Singapore as Unhomed at ifa Gallery Berlin (2015); Erasure: From Conceptualism to Abstraction at Osage Gallery Hong Kong (2014). She has also presented her works at Inside Out Sydney (2017), Singapore Biennale (2013), Setouchi Triennale (2013), State of Design in Melbourne (2008 - 2010), Singapore Design Festival (2007), London Design Week (2006) and Aichi World Expo (2005).

In 2012, she was awarded the President's Design Award for Building as a Body and in 2013, the prestigious Young Artist Award, Singapore's highest award for young arts practitioners, aged 35 and below. Her works are in private and corporate collections, as well as institutions such as POLA Museum, Japan and the Singapore Art Museum.

Grace Tan lives and works in Singapore.

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Photo Credit: Caleb Ming